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Joachim Murat 1767-1815
Joachim was married to
 Caroline Bonaparte, which made him
Napoleon's
brother-in-law.
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As a member of the Bonaparte family, great job
opportunities came Joachim's way. |
Joachim Murat's
Family
Joachim had two sons, Napoléon-Achille and Napoléon-Lucien-Charles,
as well as two daughters.
Joachim Murat's
Life
Joachim signed on with the army in
1787. He was smart and courageous. He came to Napoleon's attention in
1795 when they put down a rebellion of anti-royalists in Paris.
He later fought with Napoleon in Italy and Egypt. Joachim was also actively involved in the coup d'etat that put Napoleon into power.
Napoleon thought he'd better keep the loyal ones close, and so he married
Joachim to his sister Caroline. That was in the year 1800.
Joachim went on fighting in important battles, such as the
Battle of Marengo.
Napoleon was very pleased with the boy and made him grand duke of Berg and
Cleves and also sent him to Spain as lieutenant.
Having arrived in Spain, ambitious Joachim thought it was a pity that the
Spanish throne was vacant and tried to sit
on it. But the Spaniards were very much against that idea and
Joachim had to find something else he could dream about.
Later Napoleon put his brother Joseph,
who was previously king of Naples, on the Spanish throne. Knowing
about Joachim's fondness of sitting on thrones, Napoleon made
Joachim king of Naples. That was in the year 1808 and Joachim loved
it. Napoleon called him Joachim-Napoléon, which would be Gioacchino-Napoleone
in Italian, but the Italians kept calling him Gioacchino Murat.
As king of Naples Joachim did a decent
job. Among other things, he set up the
Napoleonic
Code and strengthened the economy.
JOACHIM NAPOLEON,
KING OF NAPLES
Click image to enlarge
He continued his life as a solider but
that worked only for a time. On the retreat from Moscow he simply
abandoned his troops and hastened home because he felt his kingdom
of Naples was in danger.
Joachim then got caught up in the middle
of European politics. Napoleon's enemies courted Joachim
Murat as a potential ally. In effect, Joachim didn't know whose side he should be on.
And that got him killed.
The Austrians sacked Naples and Joachim
fled to Corsica. He tried to come back to Naples but got arrested
and shot.
Joachim Murat's
Short Biography
1767 Birth in La Bastide-Fortunière, France
1787 Joins cavalry
1795 Fights in Paris, meets Napoleon I
1796 - 1797 Fights in Italy
1798 - 1799 Fights in Egypt
1800 Fights in Italy for Napoleon
1803 Becomes Napoleon's lieutenant and travels to Spain
1804 Becomes governor of Paris and
marshal of the Empire
1805 Fights in the
Battle of Austerlitz
1806 Becomes grand duke of Berg and Clèves
1808 Becomes king of Naples
1815 Death by execution in Pizzo, Calabria
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